


(everything i do) i do it for you

by backspace_gravity



Series: Dani/Grace prompts [1]
Category: Terminator (Movies), Terminator - All Media Types, Terminator: Dark Fate
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:47:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21816142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/backspace_gravity/pseuds/backspace_gravity
Summary: the series of events leading to dani's decision to send grace back in time (one-shot)
Relationships: Grace & Dani Ramos, Grace/Dani Ramos
Series: Dani/Grace prompts [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1571986
Comments: 14
Kudos: 79





	(everything i do) i do it for you

**Author's Note:**

> prompt fill for tumblr user whoeverdares

Dani had assured her it was a straightforward mission. Get the goods from their Legion contact and head back to base. Simple. Which was the only reason Grace was convinced to stay behind and not join Dani on the retrieval mission.

But Grace should have known, whenever Legion is involved, nothing is ever simple.

When the Resistance camp gets a distress call from the retrieval team, Grace is the first person to enlist for the emergency rescue operation.

Once Grace and the rest of the squad are aboard the hoverplane, Sergeant Reese fills the soldiers in on the situation. It turns out their Legion contact betrayed them at the last second and led a group of Rev-7s directly to Dani and her team who are now fighting tooth and nail just to stay alive.

Grace tries not to let her anger at the situation and her fear for Dani's safety overrun her mind. She puts aside the images in her head of Dani bleeding and injured, choosing instead to focus solely on the sergeant's voice as he dives into his plan for the rescue.

-

The plan lasts for all of five minutes before it goes to absolute shit.

The Rev-7s are reacting far more quickly than anticipated to the arrival of the Resistance rescue squad and the machines dispatch nearly the entire team in what feels like the blink of an eye.

The explosion from one of Legion's bombs sends Grace flying. She lands on the ground hard but semi-conscious, when Sergeant Reese rushes over to her and helps her up. He shouts something at her, but her ears are still ringing too much from the blast for her to make out what he's saying.

Suddenly, a metal blade pierces Sergeant Reese from behind.

"Sergeant!" Grace screams. Without hesitating, she fires her plasma gun at the Rev-7's head, killing it instantly.

Then sound fills her ears again. She hears the anguished cries coming from her fellow soldiers who are engaged in a heated battle against Legion's machines. She hears countless shots being fired desperately. Finally, she hears him. "Get…the Commander…out. " Sergeant Reese struggles with every word, his mouth filling up with blood.

Grace doesn’t want to leave him behind, but his injuries are fatal, and Dani could still be alive and in need of her help. She nods reluctantly and gives her sergeant’s hand a final squeeze before running in search of Dani.

When she eventually finds Dani, the woman is busy fighting a Rev-7; Dani is impressively using parts of a dead Rev to defend herself against the punches and jabs from the machine in front of her, even managing to land a few decent blows herself.

Grace tries to aim her gun as carefully as possible to avoid hitting her own Commander. But the Rev-7 is moving around too much and she manages to only fire a plasma ball at its back. At least it does the trick of taking down the machine for a moment, which is just long enough for her to grab Dani and run.

They almost make it back to the hoverplane when out of nowhere, several Rev-7s start charging toward them. The few soldiers guarding the hoverplane instantly come to Grace and Dani’s assistance, shooting aggressively at the machines looming ever closer.

Amidst the chaos, the sight of the hoverplane door being lowered down catches Grace's attention and she sees that one of her squad members, Jake Flores, is inside the plane, beckoning to her and Dani. Grace stops firing momentarily to turn to the older woman. “Commander, the hoverplane is open. In five seconds, I’m going to distract the Revs. When they start to kill me, run.”

Before Dani can protest, Grace pushes the smaller woman in the direction of the plane and then joins the other soldiers as they attempt to hold off the killing machines for as long as possible.

Grace turns to look back at the plane every few seconds or so, wanting to make sure Dani is safely on it. Her momentary distraction leads to her failing to notice the metal tentacles lunging at her until she feels them run through her body. The pain is instantaneous. It hurts so badly everywhere that Grace can’t even keep herself upright, and she drops to the ground like a felled tree. As her eyesight dims and she starts losing consciousness, she thinks she can hear Dani calling her name.

-

_"Quick! Get her in here!"_

Grace groans as they set her down, her body hurting from even the lightest touch. She imagines this is what being impaled on a bed of knives must feel like. Unknown hands remove her army vest and hastily inspects her body. 

_"Shit! She's got multiple stab wounds. A lot of chest trauma here. Sedate her and get these holes sealed up, now!"_

Her mind fog starts to clear, and she remembers what happened. As one of the medics goes to inject her with a sedative, Grace grasps the woman's wrist, stopping her. "Wait, wait." She tries to breathe. It hurts. Everything fucking hurts. "I need…to protect…my Commander." Her breaths come out in quicker succession and her heart beats more rapidly.

The medic looks at Grace with kind eyes. "Your Commander's safe thanks to you. Not only that, the retrieval mission was a success. We're finally going to turn the tide in this war." Grace's chest starts to rise and fall more slowly as the knowledge that Dani is safe calms her. "And don't worry, soldier. You'll make it," the woman adds reassuringly.

Although Grace is relieved to hear that she was able to get Dani out alive, she knows she just barely succeeded. She wishes she could do more. That's when it dawns on her that she can. Without thinking any further, she exclaims, "Make me an augment!"

The medic stares at Grace like she's lost her mind. "You…what?" The woman shakes her head in disbelief. "That's just the adrenaline talking, soldier. Let's get you under and into the OR before you bleed out." She signals to the other medics to lift Grace.

Grace's eyes harden. "No. You heard me. I _volunteer_. Make me an augment. I'm not going into surgery unless it's to make me a FUCKING augment."

The woman sighs in frustration. "Fine. Okay! But just know, there's a very high probability you'll die on that operating table." She grabs the syringe and this time Grace lets her plunge the needle into her arm.

"It's worth the risk." Grace murmurs, her limbs starting to grow heavy and her eyes already closing.

_She's worth the risk._

-

The pain from the augmentation procedures is so intense that Grace is often flitting in and out of consciousness. One day (she doesn't know what day it is, she's lost all sense of time), she wakes up from an excruciating pain that feels as if her body has been turned inside out, her skin removed, and then put back again. She screams and screams and screams until the doctors have no choice but to put her in a medically induced coma to stop her from feeling anything at all.

Grace's first proper memory post-operation is of being awakened by the sound of a heart beating slowly. She opens her eyes and traces the sound to a woman sitting in an armchair next to her bed, asleep. It's Dani, of course it is. She has her hair down instead of in her usual braid, the brown waves framing her face beautifully. Grace reaches forward and pushes to the side a stray lock of hair on Dani's face. Despite being as gentle as possible, the simple action causes Dani to stir.

"Grace?" mumbles Dani, voice still groggy from sleep.

"Hey," says Grace softly.

"You're…awake?" Dani asks, almost disbelievingly. "Oh my god, Grace, you're awake!" Dani immediately wraps her arms around Grace and hugs her tight. Grace is surprised by the sudden embrace, but she fully welcomes it, leaning into the hug and breathing in Dani's scent. For a while, all they do is hold each other and feel the other's warmth.

"I wondered if you would ever wake up," Dani says when they finally pull away from their hug. "Why did you do it, Grace?" she asks, looking directly into Grace's eyes. "You know we've never augmented a human before. You could have died!"

"I was dead anyway." Grace answers hoarsely. She slowly sits upright. "I got stabbed by those _things_ so many times that I couldn't have survived my injuries. And even if I could, I'd never be able to fight again." She reaches for Dani's hand. "To protect you again."

"Grace…" Dani's other hand moves up to caress the side of Grace's face. The Commander's fingers trace the thin white scar that sits right below her eye. As Dani moves in closer, Grace thinks the woman is going to kiss her, but she presses her lips to Grace's cheek instead. Grace closes her eyes at Dani's touch. "Thank you," Dani whispers.

-

The news of Grace’s successful augmentations spreads through the Resistance camps like wildfire. It sparks hope in all the human rebels as they finally feel like they have a fighting chance against Legion.

In the weeks that follow, Grace spends most of her time recovering at first. She would have jumped back into training as soon as possible if not for the team of doctors and Dani preventing her from doing so.

When Grace is eventually given the go-ahead, she launches into her training full force. She undergoes test after test after test as doctors and scientists work on establishing what her new abilities are and how far her augments can go before she crashes. Some days, when Grace feels like she can’t possibly go any further, only the thought of saving Dani spurs her on. Dani is pretty much the reason why Grace masters her abilities so quickly; Grace knows she needs to train her body so that when the time comes, she’s more than capable of protecting Dani.

The results of her tests and training sessions are extremely encouraging, and it doesn’t take long for the Resistance Council to officially open the augmentation program. Despite the low survival rate of the procedure, many soldiers from various encampments still sign up willingly, all eager to be better equipped to fight Legion's machines.

One of these soldiers happens to be Jake Flores, a man who came from the same camp as Grace. They had trained together from day one and although they had never really spoken, they’ve always held a firm respect for each other as they were the top two recruits in Grace’s batch.

The Commander tasks Grace with training a newly augmented Jake, and although she’s never been one for mentoring, she can’t say no to Dani and so agrees to take Jake under her wing.

In time, Jake gradually gets the hang of his new body and even becomes a decent fighting partner for Grace. They’re in the middle of an intense sparring match one day when a Resistance Lieutenant, Riley Dawson, interrupts them.

"Flores! The Commander has requested a private meeting with you. She's waiting for you in her office. You know where it is, soldier?"

Jake looks confused but he nods anyway. "Yes sir, I do. But-"

Grace cuts in. "But he still has another half hour of training left. Can't he meet her after?"

Dawson gives a stiff shake of her head. "No can do. Commander insisted that Flores see her ASAP. It sounded urgent, so I _suggest_ he gets going."

Grace's mouth forms a thin line. "Suggestion noted. But what's this even about?"

The Lieutenant doesn't bother to disguise her annoyance. "It's called a PRIVATE meeting for a reason, Williams."

"Okay. You know what? Fine," Grace sighs. She turns to Jake. "Flores, you're free to go to your PRIVATE meeting with the Commander."

Jake quickly grabs his things, pretending not to notice the intense staredown between Grace and the Lieutenant. He briefly acknowledges his two superiors before walking away briskly.

With Jake on his way to Dani's office, Grace moves to the punching bag to practice on her own. Dawson turns to Grace. “Y’know, we all see how _close_ you are to the Commander.” Grace puts a little more force behind her punches. “I’m sure whatever’s so important, she’d tell you, right? So, I’d say you have nothing to worry about,” Dawson finishes with a smile that Grace could swear is actually a sneer. As soon as Dawson exits the gym, Grace swings aggressively at the sandbag, picturing herself punching the smugness off the Lieutenant’s face.

-

Grace finishes her workout and starts making her way to the communal bathroom for a much-needed shower. She passes by Jake’s quarters by chance and notices his door ajar. Curious, she peeks into his room and sees the young man busily sorting his belongings into several cardboard boxes and large plastic bags.

“Doing some spring cleaning, Flores?”

Jake jumps at the sound of Grace’s voice. “Jesus! Don’t sneak up on me like that!”

“Sorry,” Grace says, not really sounding sorry at all. She notices how on edge Jake seems compared to before when they were sparring. It must have something to do with that secret meeting, she thinks. “You in trouble with the Commander or something?”

“No, no, I mean, at first I thought I was…but no.”

“She moving you to another camp then? ‘Cause you look like you’re planning on going somewhere.”

“I…I am. Kind of. But that’s not why I’m packing. Not exactly, anyway. It’s just…it’s complicated, okay?” Jake rubs the back of his neck nervously.

“Geez, what’s with all the vagueness, soldier? It’s not like you’re going on a top-secret mission, right?” Grace half-jokes, patting him on the arm.

But Jake doesn’t appear to find it humorous at all as his face pales at Grace’s remark. His reaction definitely does not go unnoticed.

“So, it IS a top-secret mission?” Grace pries.

Jake licks his lips. “Look, Williams, the Commander was very specific. She said I couldn’t tell anyone where I was going or what I’d be doing. And she especially mentioned that I couldn’t speak a word of it to you.”

Grace huffs. This is making less and less sense. “What?! Why not?”

“I-I don’t know. She didn’t really have time to explain. A-anyway, if you really wanna know, w-why don’t you ask her yourself?”

Despite the glare Grace gives him, she knows he’s right. Rather than forcing Jake to tell her what she wants to know, she’d be better off going straight to the source. With that decided, she walks out of Jake’s room and heads in the direction of Dani’s office.

-

Grace doesn’t bother knocking. She barges in, fuming. “Flores? Really, Commander?”

Dani doesn’t seem surprised at Grace’s sudden appearance in her office. She calmly sets her mug of coffee down on the table. “I was going to tell you, Grace. But I guess Flores told you first?”

“No, he didn’t actually. I figured that you must have assigned him on an important mission.” She moves closer so that she’s face to face with the older woman. “What I don’t get is why _him_? And why did you not want me to know?” Grace doesn’t mean to sound hurt, but honestly, she is. Her and Dani have never kept secrets from one another, so this Jake thing is really throwing her off.

Dani sighs. “It’s not that I didn’t want you to know. It’s that this shit hit me so fast that I hadn’t worked out how to tell you. I still don’t, to be honest.”

“Damn it, Dani! Tell me what?” Grace throws her hands up in frustration. She’s so fucking done with all these non-answers she keeps getting from people.

“Legion plans to kill me.”

“Okay…not to sound like a shitty person but, aren’t they ALWAYS trying to kill you?”

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Dani lets out a laugh. Grace likes that she’s always able to do that to Dani.

Dani’s smile fades, and she wears a grave expression. “You’re right. They are. But this time’s different, Grace. Legion is going to send a new kind of Rev back to the past to kill me.” Grace’s heart stops at these words. “The version of me _before_ I became your Commander.”

“What? How is this even possible?”

“Recently, the Council received intel that Legion has created a machine capable of not only surviving a trip through the Time Displacement Equipment, but also capable of blending in around people. They call it a ‘Rev-9’. It looks, sounds, and acts like a human, AND it can take on the form of any person it touches." Grace's eyes widen. "Also, did I mention it can split into two full-bodied units? Because it fucking can," Dani piles on casually like she's not making it sound worse with that piece of information.

Grace's head is spinning as she tries to process everything at once. "So, you're telling me Legion is essentially sending the _perfect_ assassin on a time-travelling mission to kill the pre-Commander you, and your way of preventing this is to send JAKE FLORES?? HE was your first choice??"

"What? No!"

"Then what, Dani? Because I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that you're sending _Jake_ to protect you when it should be me on this mission!" Grace exclaims heatedly. She takes a few deep breaths before speaking again, this time more calmly. "Yes, Jake is a good soldier, and a loyal one, but he is not going to protect you better than I can. We were the two best recruits in our group, but he rarely beat me. For god's sake, he's barely even gotten used to his augments! He won't last ten minutes against this Rev-9 and neither will you."

"I know," Dani says quietly. She looks at Grace with softness in her eyes. "I know how skilled of a fighter you are. And how much you would risk for me, which is why I can't let you die because of me. It’s also why Jake Flores was not my first, but my _only_ , choice."

Grace places her hands on Dani's shoulders. "I get that you're looking out for me, but I am your best hope of surviving the Rev-9. If you send me back, there's a chance that we both make it. But if Jake goes, there's no doubt he'll end up dead. Then you'll end up dead, the Resistance will never have existed, and I'll be dead too." She doesn't want to be this blunt with Dani, but she really needs the other woman to fully realize the gravity of her decision.

"I nearly lost you a month ago. And I would have, if not for a goddamn scientific miracle!” Dani paces around the room anxiously. “Ever since, I have been picturing what my life would be like without you in it and I can't, I can't do it." Dani stops pacing and grasps Grace's hands tightly. "I _can't_ lose you for good," Dani pleads.

Grace intertwines their fingers together. "Hey, you won't lose me. You won't." "I'm going to kill that fucking Rev, keep you alive in the past, and come right back to you, okay?" Grace says with such determination she almost believes herself.

Dani’s eyes well up with tears. “You don’t understand, Grace. TDEs only allow one-way trips. With the kind of technology that we have right now, I would not be able to bring you back to our time. You’d be stranded there forever.”

Grace takes a moment to comprehend what Dani is saying. If she goes to the past, she’ll have to leave her entire life behind for what is practically a suicide mission. Not only that, she’ll never see Dani again. Not this Dani anyway. Grace will be a complete stranger to the Dani in the past.

Truth be told, it’s not the dying that scares Grace, rather it’s the thought that she could die and the woman she loves would never even know what they mean to each other.

Although these terrifying thoughts are running through her mind a mile a minute, Grace stands by her decision. “I’m not going to lie to you and say that this shit doesn’t scare me, because it absolutely does,” she admits. “But I am here because of you. This entire Resistance is here because of you. The world _needs_ you, Dani Ramos.”

Grace brings Dani’s hands up to her lips and kisses them gently. She whispers, “You saved me once. Now let me do this for you.” She leans down, resting her forehead against Dani’s. Their lips are so close, they’re almost touching. “Let me do this for you, _please_ ,” Grace says more desperately this time. Dani remains silent, but a moment later, she nods ever so slightly. Grace notices the trembling of Dani’s lips and the tears that have rolled down her cheeks. Without another word, she closes the gap between them and kisses Dani over and over again, every fiber of her being aching to feel the woman for the very last time.

-

Grace can't sleep.

She tries for a quite a while, but she keeps failing. Partly because the bed in Dani's office is uncomfortable as hell and clearly meant for one person, but mainly because her brain won't shut off. She certainly envies how easily Dani falls into a deep sleep.

_I guess good orgasms will do that to you._

Grace turns to look at Dani, quietly admiring the peaceful expression on the woman's face when she doesn't have Resistance matters to think about and people's lives to worry over. She thinks this must be how the Dani she's going to meet will look, probably. Carefree and still innocent to the horrors of war.

It's going to be strange, for sure, meeting the woman she loves in completely different circumstances. Dani was her saviour when they first met twenty years ago. As the years passed, they slowly saw one another as peers and after some time, they considered themselves good friends. They only became lovers much more recently after years of Grace pining for the older woman and Dani initially being afraid of jeopardizing their friendship as well as professional relationship.

Although the two of them have yet to actually exchange those three words, Grace has loved Dani for as long as she can remember. She could say those words today or six months from now or six years from now and mean them the same way every single time. But she doesn't want to scare Dani off, not when Dani was so unsure of starting this thing between them in the first place.

A sadness grows in her chest as Grace realize she's really, _really_ going to miss this Dani. There was once Dani had shared with Grace that she was afraid of loving people because she had lost so many loved ones in the past, and now as she lies awake in Dani's cramped bed, she hates the thought that, instead of being the one who shows Dani it's okay to love, she's probably going to be another reason why Dani won't.

The more she dwells on it, the more she hates the fact that she's leaving this wonderful woman behind. But this is not about Grace, not at all. If sacrificing everything means she can save Dani, then there's nothing left for her to think about. She's doing this. She's going to go back in time, even if it kills her.

-

At some point very early in the morning, Dani begins to wake up and in her still half-asleep state, all she can think of is wanting to hold Grace close to her and never letting her go. She reaches out in front of her but grasps at nothing; her eyes fly open and she finds herself alone in her small bed.

Dani hurriedly puts on her clothes, cursing the whole time. As soon as she thinks she's decent, Dani rushes out her office and to the one place she thinks Grace will be. She just prays that Grace is still there.

-

Dani has to travel deep underground to get to the TDE laboratory, which she's never liked because she's always had this fear of the structure collapsing on her, so she walks as fast as she can and tries to ignore how eerie the tunnels leading to the laboratory look in the dim light.

When she's near enough to be noticed by the scientists, Dani wastes no time in responding to their greetings and immediately asks to be shown to the vault.

As soon as one of the scientists punches in the code, Dani bursts through the large metal doors, eyes searching for any sign of that familiar blonde hair. Her heart sinks when her gaze falls upon an empty room. The time machine is there, but Grace, however, is nowhere to be found. And if Grace isn't here, then that must mean…

_I'm too late, I'm too late, I'm too late_

She gasps, her hand coming up to her mouth as the realization hits her like a truck at full speed. She chokes out a sob and feels her body shake as she tries desperately to keep it together. She thinks she's going to completely fall apart at any moment.

"Commander?"

That voice. Could it be?

Dani slowly turns around and comes face to face with the woman she's been looking for. She doesn't stop to think, she just throws her arms around Grace's neck, and clings to her with every ounce of strength she has.

Grace has never known Dani to openly show this much affection toward her, especially with other Resistance members around like the female scientist standing behind them right now, but she's definitely not complaining.

Dani finally lets go of Grace, and puts her hands on her hips. "Don't you Commander me, Grace Williams. I can't believe you seriously thought of going off on the mission without leaving me so much as a note!" Dani looks somewhat pissed, but Grace can tell there's no real anger in her eyes.

A guilty look flashes across the blonde's face. "I tried writing…something, but it felt like there weren't any words that could convey a proper goodbye to you. So, I left, thinking it would be easier on both of us that way," Grace admits. "I'm sorry, Dani. I really am," she says as sincerely as she can muster, hoping that Dani can sense how much she means it.

The older woman remains silent at first as she considers Grace's words. At last, she responds, "I guess I can forgive you since I did make it in time to see you before you left." Her stern expression slowly gives way to a small smile. "And also because I probably couldn't have read your handwriting anyway."

"Oh, wow, okay. First of all, I'll have you know that I can write really nicely if I wanted to," Grace says, pretending to be offended, but she's smiling too. Then, her features soften. "Second, thank you for your forgiveness, Commander. I don't think I could have left on the mission if I thought you were mad at me."

At that moment, the scientist, who has been awkwardly hovering around them this whole time, clears her throat nervously. "Um, I don't mean to interrupt, Commander, but speaking of the mission…w-we still haven't briefed Williams and we're kind of on a tight schedule. So, um, permission to proceed?"

Grace and Dani turn toward the direction of the timid voice, suddenly remembering that they're not the only ones in the room. Despite Dani's attempt to will away her blush, she feels some heat rising in her cheeks. "My apologies, Dr. Brewster. Please, feel free to continue," Dani says, taking a few steps back to allow Grace and the scientist to talk.

Dr Brewster nods shyly at the Commander before addressing Grace. "As you already know, our team has succeeded in obtaining the Rev-9's coordinates, which means we know where and when the Rev-9 is traveling to. However, our TDE doesn't have the most accurate transport beam so your destination won't be exact, but it'll be close enough." Grace isn't so sure she likes the sound of that, but if it's the best the scientists can do, then she'll work with what she's got.

The bespectacled woman proceeds to explain the time displacement process to Grace and shares with her all the information the Resistance research team has currently compiled on the Rev-9 and its capabilities. Grace listens attentively, careful to file away in her brain every important detail she can possibly use in her upcoming encounter with the Rev.

"One last thing, soldier. TDEs can only transport living tissue and mimetic polyalloy and nothing else. So, you won't be able to bring any weapons with you on your trip. Also, the clothes you're wearing now," Dr. Brewster points at Grace's black tank top and tights, "will be completely burnt off by the time you land in 2020."

Grace does a double take. "Wait, so I'll be facing a robot assassin — that is pretty much a walking arsenal — naked AND unarmed?"

"Um, yes?"

Grace lets out a humorless laugh. "Well, I'm fucked already, aren't I?"

The woman flinches at Grace's swearing. "Y-yes. I-I mean no! No to that second thing you said, but yes to the first. Unfortunately, you'll have no choice but to retrieve clothes and of course, weapons from that time. But if you can locate a super powerful EMP device, then that'll destroy the Rev's neural net and allow you to take it down permanently."

"Right. I doubt EMP devices are commonplace in the year 2020 but I'll figure something out," Grace sighs. She takes in a deep breath and exhales. "Okay, I'm ready."

While Grace is being prepped by the other scientists, Dr. Brewster discreetly pulls Dani to the side. "Commander, there are some other developments I think you should know about." Dani turns to the woman. "What is it, Dr. Brewster? Tell me."

"Well, when we originally fixed this TDE which we took from an abandoned Legion base, we repurposed it to detect any temporal anomalies."

"What do you mean 'anomalies'?" Dani asks, her interest piqued.

"Basically, what we've picked up are signals emitting from tech that shouldn't be able to exist in the past. Legion's tech, to be precise. But that's not the most interesting part. We discovered that one of those signals isn't from any tech we recognize."

Dani furrows her brows. "So, it's not-"

"That's right, Commander. It's neither Resistance NOR Legion. It's something else entirely!" Dr. Brewster says, sounding more and more excited. She quickly continues, "What’s more, this machine seems to know exactly where and when a Rev will be transported in time BEFORE it happens."

Dani shakes her head, confused. "How could anyone or any _thing_ know what's going to happen before it actually does? This isn't making any sense."

Dr. Brewster frowns. "Yeah, we still have no idea how this machine does it but we do know that it's been sending coordinates and dates to an unknown number. And every time it does, Legion sends back a Rev a day or a couple of days later. Which proves that this machine's information is accurate! Also, I know this is a lot to digest but I'm going to blow your mind even further, sir."

Dani resists the urge to roll her eyes. "Please get to the point, Doctor." The scientist nods eagerly. "Yes, sir. Of course. Okay, so far every Rev that's been sent back in time has been destroyed within hours of its arrival and the singular clue we have is the unknown number, which appears whenever a Rev does. I think it's safe to say that this machine is working together with the unknown number to _terminate_ Revs."

The gears start turning in Dani's head until finally, Dani's eyes light up. "If you're saying what I think you're saying, that this machine and its partner are indeed 'terminating' Revs, then that means they…they could actually be potential allies of the Resistance."

"Yes, Commander, they certainly could. But again, it is somewhat risky, considering we don't really know their motives for killing Revs or who they're affiliated with."

Dr. Brewster may be ridiculously long-winded at times, but even Dani has to admit that she's got a point there. She doesn't want to rely too heavily on two relatively unknown variables. She decides instead to consider them as a backup plan of sorts. "Dr. Brewster, do you have the coordinates for these two agents?"

"Um, we have them for the machine but not for its partner, who seems to be on the move frequently so we can't pinpoint the partner's location. Why?"

"Okay, that's fine. Give me what you have," Dani commands, the urgency evident in her voice.

The scientist quickly fishes out a tablet from her left coat pocket and hands it over to Dani.

On the other side of the room, Grace is about to step into a tub containing the substance that will allow her to be transported by the TDE. Dani suddenly calls out to the blonde, effectively stopping her in her tracks.

Dani hurriedly jogs up to Grace and whips out a small laser pen. "I need to tattoo something important on you. Would that be okay?"

"Didn't peg you for the possessive type, Dani, but sure, go ahead." Grace gets a light smack on her arm in response.

"Oh my god, I don't mean my name, Grace!"

The blonde shrugs. "How was I supposed to know?"

Dani gives her the side-eye, but she's barely suppressing a smile. "Good to know you still have a sense of humor even at times like this." Her half-smile slowly falls, and her face grows serious again. "Grace, I don't have time to explain but I'm going to mark some very important coordinates on you. If the shit hits the fan, go to this place and get help, okay?" Grace nods wordlessly before pulling up her black tank, revealing part of her abdomen to Dani. "This is going to hurt quite a bit," Dani warns, to which Grace gives her a pointed look. Dani's cheeks redden. "Right. I forgot I'm talking to an augment."

Dani tries to keep her hand as steady as possible as she uses the tiny laser to etch the coordinates on Grace's skin. The blonde grits her teeth when the hot laser makes contact with her flesh, but she doesn't let out a single sound.

When Dani finishes, a male scientist approaches them, his face sweaty and his hands clasped together tightly. "Excuse me, Commander? If we're going to mask our TDE activity from Legion, we’ll need to piggyback on its signal when it sends the Rev-9, which gives Williams about five minutes before she must be transported."

"Wait, can I at least have a moment to say goodbye?"

"Sir, our window of time is small as is, and it’s getting narrower by the second," the man stresses.

Dani laughs darkly and stares him down. "This woman is literally going to be sent back in time to die for _me_ and for our _cause_ , so I suggest you find a way to keep that fucking window open until we've said our goodbyes. Is that clear?"

The man gulps. "Y-yes, sir." He shuffles awkwardly over to the control panel, while the other scientists also start working on their own tasks, giving Dani and Grace a slight amount of privacy in the large room.

"Hi."

"Hey."

The two women share a shy smile, both suddenly very quiet. Although Dani herself is unsure of what to say, she doesn't want to waste time debating over who should speak first. So, she ends up blurting the first thing that comes to mind. "Please be safe, okay? Whatever happens, just remember your training, remember everything you know about the Rev-9, remember those coordinates, and remember your limits. If you start crashing, go to the nearest pharmacy or clinic you can find and get the right meds."

Grace opens her mouth to say something but Dani quickly adds, "And don’t screw up the dosage!" She realizes she may have said that part a little too loudly, so she follows up more quietly, "That’s, um, very important.”

Grace chuckles softly, amused at Dani's rambling. “Don’t worry, I can remember shit, alright?” She reaches for Dani’s hand, finding comfort in the weight of it in her own. “But Dani, I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to stay safe. I can only promise you that I’ll do everything I can so you won’t have to lose me.”

“Sir, three minutes till the window closes!” yells the male scientist from behind the TDE’s control panel.

Dani gestures with her free hand to indicate she’s heard him, and quickly turns back to Grace. She bites her lower lip. “I know I'm kind of lousy with words and sometimes with my feelings, but before you go, I want to say thank you for everything you’ve ever done for me. You’ve always listened to me, advised me, supported me, and encouraged me.” The blonde instinctively wants to look away, embarrassed, except Dani holds her still. “Grace, believe me when I say that you are, without a doubt, the person I trust the most and the one I can truly be myself with. Because, I don’t have to be Daniella Ramos, Resistance Commander, when I’m with you. I can just be plain old Dani and I love that. I really, _really_ fucking love that.” Dani laughs, then stops. “Grace, I think I-”

“Two minutes left, Commander!”

Grace smiles understandingly. “Dani, it’s okay. I think I know what you’re about to say, and you don’t have to. Don’t feel like you have to say it just because I’m leaving and you’ll never see me again.”

Dani can’t believe what she's hearing. “What? Grace, no, I’m not saying it ‘just because’ you’re leaving! I mean, maybe I am a little bit… But my point is, I’m saying this now because I’ve finally realized that it’s how I really feel. It's true.”

“What is?”

Dani groans. “That I love you! Oh my god, Grace, I love you!”

The sudden confession stuns the entire room into pin-drop silence. Grace herself is left speechless. Her brain feels for a while as if it has short-circuited. Then somehow, her body moves of its own accord and she's surging forward, kissing Dani on the lips, hard. Dani responds eagerly, kissing Grace back with just as much want and fervor. Grace lets herself savor the taste of Dani’s lips for a few more seconds before pulling away from the woman, panting. “I wish we had all the time in the world for me to show you all the things you make me feel, but we don’t.”

“Sixty seconds till transport, Commander,” Dr. Brewster reminds gently.

Dani gives a solemn nod and sighs shakily. “Understood, Doctor.”

As Dani is led away by Dr. Brewster to the observation room, the scientists immediately usher Grace into the tub. They submerge her to ensure she’s completely covered in the conductive substance from head to toe.

Once Grace is on the platform, the scientists start up the TDE, the large machine humming as it works on accumulating enough energy to execute the transportation process. When the machine is sufficiently charged, the rings surrounding the platform begin to rotate, generating a field around Grace and levitating her. The digital clock in the observation room begins its countdown.

10…

9…

From behind the glass-paneled room, Dani watches Grace, and she can see how, despite the brave face Grace is putting on, there’s genuine fear and uncertainty in the woman’s eyes. Without realizing it, Dani suddenly has her fingers on the intercom button. “Grace, it’s going to be okay.” The blonde turns to look up at Dani. “I’m here and I’m with you.” Dani places one hand on the glass, wishing she could reach out and comfort Grace. Dani’s words seem, at least, to put Grace more at ease, judging by the slight smile on her face.

6…

5…

Even as she's watching this take place with her own two eyes, Dani still can’t believe that she really only has a handful of seconds left before Grace disappears and she'll never see the woman again. This can’t be it for them, it just can’t. She refuses to accept it. Her fingers lunge for the intercom button again. “Grace, I don’t know how, and I don’t know when, but I’m going to find a way to bring you back. I _will_ find a way, you hear me?” At this point, Dani doesn’t even care how desperate she sounds in front of her people, she just needs Grace to know that she will never give up on her.

Dani’s determination plants in Grace a newfound optimism and hope for her mission that she didn't have before. She should have known Dani would never lie down and take shit from fate. Dani’s always said, “Fuck fate.” And sure enough, Dani seems intent on doing just that for Grace.

The glass being too thick for any sound to pass through, Grace decides instead to mouth “I love you” at Dani and prays the woman can read lips well enough to understand her. Dani's eyes tear up, letting Grace know that she received the message loud and clear.

2…

1…

At the very last moment, just as the ball of energy begins to fill up the entire room and the rotations of the metal rings reach critical speeds, Grace mouths one last thing to Dani. “I’ll see you soon.”

And in a blinding flash of light, Grace is gone, and Dani is all alone. The room she stands in somehow feels colder and darker than it did a mere moment ago.

A few minutes pass in silence before Dani wipes away the remaining tears and she balls her hands into fists, her gaze hardening. "I meant what I said to Grace earlier." She looks into the eyes of each and every one of the scientists there. "I am _not_ stopping until I find a way to return her to our time. Starting from right fucking now.”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks again to whoeverdares for sending me such an interesting prompt and again, i intended to write something much shorter than this but somehow ended up with a fic twice as long lmao. if you enjoyed the fic, feel free to let me know in any way that feels comfortable to you! thanks for reading!


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